The next best thing to drinking sake is reading about it. Gatehouse Publishing’s latest release is SAKE: The History, Personal Stories and Craft of Japan’s Artisanal Breweries, a 420-page tribute to Japan’s most iconic alcohol.

SAKE features profiles of the passionate families who run the country’s sake breweries, along with beautiful photography of the small-batch processes and people involved, and the stunning surrounding landscapes. The profiles cover 60 sake breweries, 10 shōchū distilleries and 5 awamori distilleries, from Okinawa all the way to Hokkaido.

Each brewery’s profile includes a tasting note about one of its sakes written by an expert sake professional, and an at-a-glance factsheet that provides key information about the brewery. The book also serves as a guide to Japan’s distinctive generational sakes, introducing a new drinking audience to artisanal alternatives to popular mainstream offerings.

SAKE can be purchased on Amazon.com and at selected bookstores and lifestyle boutiques around the world for AUD$140. For discerning collectors, a boxed limited edition is also available for AUD$350.